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89 Pistons.
Thomas / Dumars / Microwave > Billups, Rip, Lindsey Hunter
Laimbeer would be in Rasheed's head and get him double technicals.
Sally / Mahorn could battle on the block with Ben Wallace. Bring in James Edwards for some sweeping shots on the block.
Aguirre a better scorer than Prince but not a better defender, so call it a wash there.
I agree. After looking at their playoff records and stats, it's not even close. The '89 Pistons went 15-2 in the playoffs, while the '04 Pistons went 16-7.
I do wonder if Rasheed Wallace might be better at spreading the floor than Laimbeer. He's certainly better in the post. But I give the 89 Pistons the edge nonetheless.
Those playoff records need context
The 2004 Pistons beat the 2 time defending EC Champions in the 2nd round and a legit contender (Indy) in the ECF
They should have sept the Lakers but of ing course Kobe had to hit that 3 in game 2
The 1989 Pistons beat a ty Bucks team in the 2nd round anf a Bulls team that wasn't a contender yet
If Magic and Scott were healthy, Pistons would still have won the Finals but not in a sweep
I'm not saying 2004 is better than 89, I'm just saying context matters
But the 2004 Pistons were better obviously
Also I'm not buying that Laimbeer would have driven Wallace mad, Sheed wasn't like his 2000 self and Laimbeer usually went after smaller players, he wouldn't have tried his luck against Rasheed
The Bird-less Celtics were a really good eight seed. I thought they were going to get a game or two; and then they didn't.
That Bucks team was still potent despite being on their last legs. They had a lot of experience and were expected to get a game or two also.
The Bulls went up 2-1 on the Pistons. Then Jordan rules went into effect.
The Mavericks or Jazz are among others who would've been better than the Lakers. Stern's engineering is legendary. They were 12-0 in the playoffs before they hit the Pistons buzzsaw.
I do very much agree with your contention that the 89 playoffs record is deceiving. Though they followed it up and were dominant the next season. If Stern didn't take 88 from them, they would've been a three-peat champion. Some would argue that the 04 Pistons could've been three-peat champions with a bit more luck; but I'd say the edge goes to the 89 Pistons on these superficial parameters. After that, the argument of how much allegedly better were players fifteen years later comes into effect.
Laimbeer went after Parish who was way more bad ass than Wallace.
imagine if a player "punched" (overhand slapped) someone like that today, how much they would be clowned for such a wussy "punch"
"durhrhrhr how soft they need to learn how to fight and be REAL men like they were in the 80s where they tore each others gizzards out and could box like sugar ray leonard!!!!!!!"
Pity response.
True. For what it's worth, 89 also had a far better regular season record (63-19 vs. 54-28), and they had more scoring between Thomas, Dumars, and Dantley/Aguirre. I'm sure 04 was the better defensive team, but 89 was the better offensive team.
I'm old enough to remember when there was actually a sub forum for this team. As well as for Sacramento. I guess timvp considered them allies because they were anti Lakers.
I think they were born out of respect for our series (2005 and 2006 respectively) vs those teams
So classy, very Popovichesque if you ask me
Corliss Williamson, Bobby Sura, (not fully developed) M. Okur are good bench options I had forgotten. But 89 Pistons still beat 04 Pistons on depth IMO.
Dennis Rodman, bro.
I was thinking more along the lines of ....
Kings: out of respect for the "rightful" 2002 NBA champions, if the refs didn't rig games 4 and 6 for the LA Losers...
Pistons: out of respect for them outright annihilating the LA Losers in the 2004 Finals
schadenfreude against LAL is definitely a long standing motif of ST (and for good reason) imo
Very young and pretty much a backup in his Pistons days. He fit the team mold on the court for sure, but that team's weakness was it suffered from long cold stretches on offense, so Rodman wasn't really much help there. Vinnie Johnson was like that era's Jamal Crawford... Lou Williams... 2011/2012 James Harden on the Thunder
Rodman won the DPoY the next two years and was 1st team defense in 89. He may put up better stats later in his career, but I always thought the Pistons from 89 to 92 was the best. But agreed on the offensive side, he great for screens and offensive rebounds, but other than that he wasn't of much use scoring.
He was also great defensively in 88 tbh
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